This is a very character driven story set in a small town. . Each chapter is told from a characters point of view which for me was very effective. As with most small town novels everyone knows each others business and are all interconnected in some way. Violet is a young girl who has been wronged in a very nasty way and this is the focus of the story. We have poverty, child neglect, sexual assault ,and self harming, but we also have friendship, love , caring and helping people in need. I loved the tight community spirit ,however the downside is the reluctance to get justice. This is book two , but I felt that I hadn’t missed anything , but would definitely like to meet these characters again . This is a new author for me and would definitely recommend

[NetGalley Read #35]
2.5 ⭐️

"We'd been poor stewards of our good fortune."

Mm. Not for me.

First of all, thanks to the publisher for providing a free copy of the first book of this series. I did read that before reading this book.

Sadly, I didn’t like either of them. I feel like I'm not the target audience for these books. There are elements that are good. Some dialogue, some relationships, and some bits of the story. The author does write relationships and drama very well.

As for the negatives, well... First of all, there are too many chapters and too many point of views. There are 93 chapters and 11 different point of views in this 300-320 page book. The titular character (Violet) gets 12 chapters that are spaced too far apart. Same thing with a couple of other characters. You start focusing on two to three characters for a few chapters and then another one pops up and now you gotta focus on this other story before the old characters pop back in after some time. That being said, the characters are not very badly written (maybe some). The relationships between a few characters are well written.

After reading the first book, I had no desire to read a chapter from a certain character's point of view. Yet it was there. Again, it was a POV that wasn't needed. AND it created a contradiction between the two books. The relationship between James Pullman and Richard Pullman in this book and their interactions make no sense whatsoever after reading the first book. It's like you're reading two different characters. And that would've been fine if they were two different characters with same names. That would've made some sense. But, in the author's note for this book, it's explicitly mentioned that these characters are the same ones that appeared in the first book. It makes zero sense.

The story deals with some heavy and sensitive topics. Poverty. Assault. Trauma. Abuse. The way sexual assault, among other serious topics, is handled in this book (and the first one) is just bad. Stop using religion and bending and breaking it's rules to justify horrible, vile behaviour. And what time frame are these books even set in? 90s? 80s? 00s? Doesn't matter. I understand the reasons for not reporting to the police (doesn't mean you shouldn't). People feel shame (for something they shouldn't feel ashamed about and something that's not their fault; again, understandable, you see it and read about it in real life) and they need time to process and heal. But those reasons, those feelings are not what's represented here. What's presented is some bullshit reasoning that is so ancient that it should remain ancient. And the character responsible for all of it lives his life without an ounce of consequence (as told from his perspective in the first book). It would have been understandable if it was some allegory to represent the people who commit atrocities and go on living without getting caught. Sadly, it's not that.

It's a scattered mess of a story with some genuinely good moments, heartfelt relationships, and social commentary that are overshadowed by the bad moments and horrible mishandling of sensitive topics.

Not Recommended.

this was a strong sequel in this series and had that element that I was expecting from the first book. The characters were on point and worked in this universe that I was expecting. Anne Shaw Heinrich wrote this well and can't wait to read more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Speaking Volumes Press for an ARC of this novel to read and review.

This is the second of a proposed trilogy tracing the lives of the citizens, especially the women, of impoverished and inappropriately named Paradise County. Although this volume can reasonably stand alone, I found myself having to read the first one in order to get a sense of the characters’ evolution. It appears that neither they, despite protestations, nor the county itself have changed fundamentally. But that’s also important to know, because the big question, then, is why have they not? Especially when the problems they are confronting are basically continued from the first book?

Definitely this title is apt. Teenaged Violet, daughter of a financially comfortable and loving intact family, befriends a young man who could be her opposite in how he has to live and the kind of dysfunction he comes from. Young Jules, barely out of childhood, is obliged to care for his five younger sisters in a community of too many children and not enough money. Naturally the stress on him is enormous, and the odds are stacked high. It’s hard not to become moralistic and wonder about the shameless irresponsibility of parents like his, who seem to be the common type in his world. But that’s too easy. Poverty doesn’t single-handedly cause parental negligence and deprivation. That’s a stereotype as much as the ‘poor but happy’ one.

Then there is the matter of the emotional and sexual abuse that these children, without family to protect them or a child welfare system that really works, are forced to suffer. It’s really hard to read about these things, though they are very real; if this triggers you, beware.

The author handles all this upheaval with sensitivity and fine writing. Yet she seems to make excuses for the male perpetrators and has the women who know the truth talk each other into keeping mum, so as to preserve family sanctity. In what way are these families worth preserving? They’ve done everything wrong, committing evil acts, aiding and abetting, with no thought to the victims.

This is a tough story to read. Violet is blue at the beginning, and there is nothing much that can take away her blues at the end.

2.5 stars
Violet Is Blue by Anne Shaw Heinrich is gritty story about family and life in a small town. Unfortunately, this is not a book that worked for me, but I'm sure it would work better for others.

I did not realize before reading that this was the second book in a series. Having that context would have helped since I was not able to connect to any of the characters, especially Violet herself. I also was not expecting how dark this story would become. Some very heavy material is dealt with that was difficult to read.

This author clearly has talent and I may enjoy another book from her, but unfortunately it was not this one.

Thank you to the author and publisher Speaking Volumes for making this book available for early review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I wish I had known this was book 2 in a series. I would have read book 1 first. I enjoyed that there was a non-linear timeline and the book wasn't hard to follow but it just didn't grab me and hold me throughout which I enjoy a book to do. There was a lot of subject matter that was thought provoking and that I wish had been brought out more in character's actions. I will likely go back and read book one then this one to get a better take on how good the book is.

This book explores heavy themes through the eyes of a young girl navigating new and difficult territory, but for all its emotional weight, Violet is Blue often felt like it kept the reader at arm’s length.

Violet Sellers is already struggling when she meets Jules Marks, a boy from the “wrong side of town” with five little sisters and a home life full of quiet heartbreak. As she gets pulled deeper into his world and the traumas that surround him, Violet’s own world becomes increasingly fragile. Her parents do their best to help her, but they’re also more concerned with appearances than truth, and the resulting tension adds another layer of strain to Violet’s inner life.

While the premise holds a lot of potential for emotional resonance, the execution didn’t always land. The narrative tended to tell rather than show, making it difficult to feel truly connected to the story. Much of the story unfolded in a way that felt observational, like watching things happen from a distance instead of living them through the characters. It was frustrating at times, especially when the subject matter called for deeper intimacy or introspection.

Thank you to the Author & Net Galley for the ARC .

I will preface this by saying, that I was unaware that this was a book 2 of a series before I started reading it.

This book featured multiple character view points, a couple of time periods, and a major crime at its center. And yet, I wasn't compelled. It wasn't hard to follow but each time I put the book down, I wasn't in a hurry to pick it back up. I felt like it took forever for anything to happen, and then was incredibly disappointed that Jamie never paid for his crime in any way shape or form. In fact though he is the catalyst for much of the story, we rarely hear from or about him.

This book was a lot of "telling you what happened" rather than showing you. Everything was so removed and impersonal that I never felt attached to the characters and what they were going through. It's much like when you study European History at school and all you get is a list of battle dates and names of Kings to memorize - boring. But when you watch a movie or a show, that lets you see that there were real people involved, and they were young, and they had complex families, etc suddenly it becomes more interesting.

And while not exactly trauma porn, maybe a bit of poverty porn, as we are told over and over and over by multiple different characters that the people living in Shakey's Half, all smell bad and have terrible teeth and lice. Even after Lee's kids are taken in by her brother and his girlfriend and are being cared for, we are told that the 'stink' of Shakey's Half remains. And yes, people like Lee, who are prone to making bad choices are apt to keep having kids, it still feels like the 5 sisters are a monolith for shock value, to paint a more 'pathetic' and difficult to overcome, level of poverty, then actual characters of any worth to the author.

I was unhappy that a female author would choose to have Violet and Gloria remain silent about what happened because they are 'protecting' the 'family'. Once again a man gets away scott free in the name of women, giving in, to get along. Violet is made to suffer over and over, to lose everything, down to leaving town, just so Ruth's family doesn't suffer. And this is presented as repaying Ruth for Gloria's bullying when they were kids, but actually robs Ruth of the ability to say as an adult woman, 'I love my child but what he did was wrong, and he needs to be held accountable'. She is still treated as the kid sister that doesn't get to be part of the conversation.

This book was frustrating for many reasons, but I don't know if I would have felt differently or been more invested had I read the first book.

I unfortunately had to DNF because I didn’t realize the book would include incest and rape and that’s not something I’m comfortable reading about, however I will provide feedback from the little I did read. I think the book has too many perspectives, and this would only serve the book had it been in more of an interview format. I also wasn’t expecting to find out what happened to Violet so early on, it destroyed the momentum for me. I’ll say that the couple chapters I read of Violet were gripping, so those were written well.